Boy, 15, ordered held in weekend mall shooting

The 15-year-old boy accused in a shooting Saturday night outside Franklin Park Mall will remain in detention at the Lucas County Juvenile Justice Center.

The teen is charged with inducing panic, carrying a concealed weapon, and participation in a criminal gang.

The boy is a member of the Geer Gang Crips, said Lori Olender, who oversees the juvenile division of the Lucas County Prosecutor's Office.

Toledo police reported that officers working off-duty at the mall had just walked into a parking structure around 9 p.m. when they heard several shots and saw several males running. No injuries were reported.

The officers stopped one of the males, and descriptions of the suspects were broadcast. A 15-year-old boy was found in the Kohl’s parking lot with a group of other people, according to a police report.

Police reported finding a 45-caliber round in his pants pocket. A handgun was found in a nearby snowbank.

During his juvenile court hearing, Magistrate William Hutcheson asked the Start High School freshman, who is currently suspended, if he would like to say anything on his behalf.

“I was shooting,” the boy started to explain before the public defender at his side, David Baker, stopped the teen, and said they would not make any statements in court.

Magistrate Hutcheson asked the boy again if he had anything to say, to which the teen said, “I didn’t harm nobody,” until he was again stopped by the attorney.

The boy told the magistrate he wants to box, play football, or take care of his grandmother upon graduation. Mr. Baker asked that the boy be released to his mother from detention citing his “somewhat limited” criminal record and lack of felony charges.

The magistrate declined and ordered the boy held, saying that gun-related crimes are “about as serious as it gets” in juvenile court.